Head games don't rattle Hasselbeck

QB plays his best with Super Bowl at stake

Updated 10:00 pm, Sunday, January 22, 2006

With 11 yards separating him and the end zone, Matt Hasselbeck rolled right and looked and looked. Finally, the Seahawks quarterback tucked the ball in and scampered up the sideline.

Julius Peppers caught up with him at the Carolina 6. Play over. However, Peppers wasn't done. As Hasselbeck headed to his huddle, the overly confident, overly athletic Panthers defensive end practically tried to climb inside his helmet. For 10 yards, Peppers prattled on and on, twice pulling around in front of the Seattle player, always making a point.

Hasselbeck never looked his way. Never flinched. Never said anything. He just stared straight ahead and kept walking.

This was Seattle's offensive general yesterday, the week before, practically the entire season -- focused to the point he was oblivious to the rest of the world, intent on reaching only a first down, the end zone, Detroit.

"Matt does a good job of not letting a guy get in his head," Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens said. "I don't know what Peppers was talking about. He didn't have that great of a game."

Hasselbeck did. Directing the Seahawks to a startlingly easy 34-14 victory over Carolina in the NFL's second-biggest showcase event, he was at his professional football best. Locking down a Super Bowl berth against Pittsburgh, he completed 20 of 28 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for another 27 yards on six carries.

Regardless of what happens in Michigan in two weeks, Hasselbeck had come full circle on a chilly yet uproarious Sunday in downtown Seattle -- the latest a football game of any kind had been played in the city.

Teammates privately paid Hasselbeck tribute as they replayed the game in the locker room, remembering where he's been and where he's headed.

"He's been thrown into the fire," guard Steve Hutchinson said. "It was the lowest of the lows. In my rookie year, he was getting booed off the field. Of anybody, I'm proudest of Matt."

Spinning, bouncing, scrambling and delivering, Hasselbeck has been the catalyst for a fearsome Seahawks attack that started rolling when the leaves started changing and keeps going unchallenged. He's too clever for most defensive coordinators, with only the Steelers left with an opportunity to figure him out.

"They've been bringing all sorts of pressure, and he's been able to elude the pressure sack," said former Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon, a possible hall of famer. "He's always buying time. He's making great throws. The thing that impresses me the most is his decision making.

"He's just very, very impressive playing the whole quarterback game."

With six minutes left, Hasselbeck worked the sideline like he was running for governor, shaking the hands of blockers, defenders and equipment men, sharing a moment that never seemed possible for this franchise. Later, he held a water bottle over coach Mike Holmgren's head, as if he was going to drench him. The plastic container was empty. It was another well-executed fake.

As for Peppers, Hasselbeck heard him. He knew the Panthers player was there. Every step.

Hasselbeck just felt it was important to keep his cool, to keep moving, to stay in control of the situation.

"Usually you try and outrun a guy like that, you're not going to do it," he said. "It was maybe, 'Don't try it.' I don't know. Whatever he said, he was probably right."

On this day, Hasselbeck was the one with the answers and the directions to Detroit.